Raspberry Pi Desktop returns for PC and Mac on 64-bit Debian Trixie, with a Connect client
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readRaspberry Pi has released an updated Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC and Mac, built on Debian Trixie, in a post on 6 October. The previous version available on its website was based on Debian Bullseye; the company writes that the team "just got too busy" to release newer versions, while receiving two or three emails a week asking for one.
What changed.
- 64-bit only. The image is now based on amd64 Debian rather than the older 32-bit version, because Debian has stopped supporting 32-bit for PC architectures. Raspberry Pi says most PCs from roughly the last 15 years and most Intel-based Macs will run it. Apple Silicon Macs will not: Debian support there is still experimental.
- Current desktop. It includes the latest desktop changes, such as the Control Centre and the new dock.
- Raspberry Pi Connect. The Connect client is included, so a PC or Mac running the Desktop can be reached by screen sharing or remote terminal from the Connect website, like a Raspberry Pi. The one difference: on a PC you choose a device name at setup, because there is no unique Raspberry Pi hardware ID.
How to run it. The download is a live Debian image. Flash the .iso to a USB stick, boot from it and choose "run with persistence" so changes are saved to the stick; the same menu can reset persistence to a clean image. To install to the computer's own drive, run the Calamares installer from the desktop shortcut or from System Tools in the main menu.
The post also tells the history: the first version was a bootable DVD given away with The MagPi in 2016, and the first installable release followed in 2017. Raspberry Pi notes it makes its money from hardware and has never charged for the software, which is why the PC version kept slipping.